The Difference 6 Days Makes

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Six days (and one evening) is barely enough to make this drive comfortably. Your problem is not that any given day is too much, but that 6 straight days of long distance driving will eventually begin to take its toll. You do mix up your days a bit, with a short day between Chicago and Cleveland (about 350 miles) and longer days such as between Reno and Salt Lake City (520 miles). That will help, but this is all interstate driving and it will get monotonous. I urge you to find a park or small town somewhere along your route each day and take a half hour to hour walk for the exercise and mental break. For example, on the first day you could either walk around Elko, NV or South Fork State Recreation Area. Several such pauses along your route will make the drive more relaxing as well as safer.

Agree and Disagree

I don't think you are biting off too much with your plans. However, I will say I like your first itinerary far better than your updated version. In your second plan, you seem to be pushing too far to try and work in a stop in Chicago.

That said, I do agree with AZ Buck about making sure that you take time for breaks and you should find things to do off the road along the way. This many consecutive days of long distance driving will take its toll no matter what you do, but getting off the road for even an hour or two a day will make the rest of the driving much more bearable.

Looks good to me!

Good plan. Most people forget this and think they can drive for hours. However, I would urge you to be very loose with this plan. In other words, you might have some days where you feel great and can drive 3-4-5 hours at a clip without needing rest. And you might have other days when virtually every hour you need a rest. Listen to your body on this one.

I remember a time when I pushed myself for a few days and it caught up with me. Since I had to get back for work, I couldn't take the day off like I felt I needed. I had a bit of a headache but that wasn't my major problem. My eyes were definitely tired and strained and just needed rest. So I stopped a LOT that day and napped. I think I stopped 3-4 times that day at fairly busy parks and visitor centers that had grassy areas, laid my blanket down, and napped. Some naps were only 20-30 minutes but a couple were closer to an hour or maybe even a bit more. I got to my destination later that night, but that's OK because at least I got there!, and then slept the sleep of a hibernating bear that night, too. But I felt much better the next day (my last day on the road) and could zip home without extra rest stops.

Actually, I think movement is the best thing to do when you get out of the car because you need to help your circulation but, on that day, carrying my blanket and pillow to a place to sleep was about all the extra movement I could muster.

So, like I said, stop when you're tired, stop when you start realizing that you're driving too much on auto-pilot and not paying attention to the road, stop when you start feeling crabby or stressed, etc. Don't limit yourself to a schedule on this on such a long trip.

However, I think your plan looks fine. Well-balanced drives, etc. You should have a fun trip and be able to squeeze in a bit of sightseeing as well.

I can't answer your question about lighting between Reno and Lovelock because I have only driven this stretch during the day. It may or may not be well lit. Does it really matter? I've driven on numerous roads without good lighting at night without any problem. If your headlights are working right, and aimed right (you might want to get this checked), you should be fine. Use your high beams but remember the rules of the road with high beams and don't blind other traffic.